Giudice to knock off early at FWA

The head of the nation’s workplace regulator has quit, in a surprise decision that sets a new test for the Gillard government as it comes under pressure to review its industrial relations regime.

Fair Work Australia president
Geoffrey Giudice
is to leave the job early, just as employers express growing concern about the authority’s decisions on the minimum wage and union rights.

Justice Giudice was due to retire when he turns 65 at the end of 2012 but is to leave the regulator in ­February, triggering speculation last night over the reasons for his departure and the likely choice of successor.

Business groups have criticised a string of Fair Work decisions in recent months – only some of them by Justice Giudice – and cited the cases as proof of the need to overhaul the workplace regime in order to lift productivity.

While the government is required to review its workplace laws by the end of January 2012 under its own laws, it is yet to announce the inquiry process and has played down the need for any adjustments to the regime that helped it secure power at the 2007 election.

Appointed to his initial position by Howard government workplace minister Peter Reith, Justice Giudice was the president of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission and a judge of the Federal Court of Australia before transferring to his current role.

The Rudd government named him to lead FWA when it set up the new workplace authority in 2008.

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“His long list of achievements as president included overseeing the implementation of the Fair Work Act 2009, the new national system for workplace relations, streamlined modern award system and annual wage reviews," he said. “I would like to thank Justice Giudice for his service to the nation, professionalism and dedication to the role."

The government is expected to appoint a successor to Justice Giudice using the process set out in the Fair Work Act, which stipulates that the decision is made after consultation with the opposition.

Coalition members have taken aim at the workplace regulator in the belief that too many of its members are former union officials or supporters of an “IR club" that resists deregulation.